As a mom blogger my needs vary differently than many online sites and there are plugins out there that can be extremely useful to make sure you are functioning at the highest capacity.

Here are the plugins that truly assist my Mom Blog site on a daily basis:

1) Akismet: Come on, this one was a given. Akistmet is a powerhouse plugin that keeps the spam in the trash. Without this plugin, I would be dealing with 100 “your blog post is so greatest of all time and i to do the sex with you” comments a day.

Akismet is the standing ovation of plugins.

2) Add Post Footer I love this plugin because it allows me to share site wide information on the bottom of all my posts (let me add that you can do it per post if you like rather than site wide). Currently I use my footer to add my twitter link so others popping in don’t forget to follow me.

While setting up the Post Footer plugin, you can also add an ad network or related post list. The related post list pulls posts (as many as you like) that are similar to the post someone is viewing. Having links right in front of someone on content they are already interested in encourages someone to stay on your site longer and surf.

3) Maintenance Mode Plugin- Maintenance mode plugin is something that you will use rarely, but comes in handy to have installed. This allows a SPLASH page prior to your blog that lets someone know your site is down for whatever you reason you display.

The reason I find this important is because with mom bloggers redoing their site and adjusting their layouts quite often, its a lot nicer to have the page where only admins can access the blog and test out new themes without the entire world watching as you possibly break apart your blog.  (ie less pressure)

The plugin still allows the owner or admin to login and view the blog while in maintenance. We use this a lot when we are changing things around.

Brilliant!

4) Greg’s Thread Comment Numbers : Threaded comments are extremely important in Mom Blogs. Not only is it wise to have numbers on each comment for giveaway/contest posts, but nested comments allow you to respond right underneath a commenter, engaging your audience. This plugin can require a tiny bit of styling to match your theme, but its worth figuring out or paying someone to figure out.

One thing to note: Nested comments under a number get decimals rather than a full new number. As you can see in the example below my comment back to Julie doesn’t count as a new comment, but rather still part of HER original comment. This is important to note for your contest entries.

5) Linky – Before you get onto me, yes, I still use Mr. Linky. I know there have been some new link devices on the net, but I wont stop using Mr. Linky still remains the premiere way to share a link chain on your website in one central location. On the admin side, as shown below, you can remove any link that is left behind that may be spam or inappropriate for your blog, so you always have complete control in the links shown on your site.

The WP-plugin for linky allows you to scroll down and pick an already established MEME (or MEME you set up in your dashboard on the Blenza website) or add an untitled MEME. It also allows you with a click of a setting to alter whether someone can drop and run or force them to leave a comment prior to linking.  The plugin automatically incorporates these options in the bottom of all your posts and you decide whether or not to activate linky or not.

6) TweetMeme I am late on this bandwagon because I have been using a separate plugin to direct visitors to stumble, twitter, and more, but I find the TWEETMEME much more effective in getting your posts shared on twitter. Its quite easy to install and you can adjust the location of its appearance in your post right in your blog dashboard. Once install, all someone has to do is click and it auto sends them to twitter and puts the tweet together This can be especially helpful for contest posts that require or allow extra twitter entries.

7) WP-Ban MomDots favorite plugin is WP-Ban. Have a troll? Ban out thier IP address. While this wont stop someone who is stalking you (cause there are other ways to get on a banned website if your lame), it will give a specified message or white screen to anyone with that IP that attempts to access your blog.  You can ban by IP, email address, site that someone links from, all sorts of great options.

To add to the fun, you can even see how many times a banned IP tried to access your blog (and reset if you really want to find out daily!). This part makes me giggle. Its like a banned IP fan club!

WP-Polls Polls are a TON OF FUN on blogs. You can set up finalists for your giveaways, ask your readers questions, or have a random Poll Day. All you do is set up your question, get assigned a poll ID number and drop that ID in your poll area of the post.

Example of Poll in Post:

Set Up:

9) WP-Recent Comments I love this plugin because it rewards your commenters with public love. It puts their picture up if they have it set up with Gravatar, a link to their site (if they have one) and their comment. You can adjust what portion of the comment shows and how many will appear on your sidebar. This is a WIDGET.

10) Contact Form 7 I really love this contact form plugin because it allows you to create more than one type of contact form containing different settings.

You can do drop downs, text lines, paragraphs and more:

You can also force people to fill out information before its sent to you and include a CAPTCHA to keep out spammers.Yep, spammers can auto fill your contact forms too!

MomDot actually uses a lot more than 10 plugins, but I hope that these 10 help you design and layout your mom blog with less stress and more function.

Feel free to share your favorite plugins!

~Trisha